Dubai: A man on death row for kidnapping, raping and killing an eight-year-old boy will be examined by a special panel of psychiatrists to evaluate his mental condition.

Having intentionally refused to attend his third hearing before the Dubai Appeal Court in a row, the sanity of 49-year-old Jordanian, Nidal Eisa Abdullah, will be assessed at Rashid Hospital to decide whether he was aware of his actions when he kidnapped, raped and killed eight-year-old Jordanian, Obaida Sedqi, on May 20.

In August, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted Abdullah and sentenced him to death.

“The convict will be referred to Rashid Hospital where a special committee of psychiatrists will examine his saneness to decide whether he was mentally ill when the incident happened [May 20] and whether he was aware of his behaviour and actions. Meanwhile prosecutors will have to bring the accused using legal force on November 13,” decided the Appeal Court’s presiding judge Eisa Mohammad Al Sharif on Sunday.

The appellate court referred the accused to the medical committee in response to the request of his court-appointed lawyer, Ali Musabbeh Dahi in court.

Upon summoning Abdullah, the accused failed to show up in the court while the prison warden handed presiding judge Al Sharif a written paper confirming that the accused refuses to attend.

The reasons behind his refusal to stand trial before the Appeal Court remained ambiguous.

“The defendant had requested the primary court to refer him to a psychiatrists’ committee to examine his sanity after claiming that he suffers a mental illness. He also claimed that he was not aware of his mental sickness that he claimed he was being treated for. The primary court rejected his request … hence that is way, today, the defence would like to renew that same request. I want the accused’s sanity to be examined to be able to know whether he suffered any mental illness or instability at the time the crime happened,” lawyer Dahi mentioned in his written request.

When he showed up before the appellate court, Abdullah admitted that he killed Obaida but denied kidnapping and raping the victim.

According to the primary judgement, Abdullah kidnapped Obaida on May 20 from his father’s garage in Sharjah and then raped and killed him in Al Mamzar. He admitted before the primary court that he raped and murdered Obaida but denied kidnapping the victim, who he said willingly sat with him in the car. He also admitted that he drank liquor and drove his vehicle under the influence of alcohol.

The lawyer of Obaida’s family, Obaid Al Mazmi, was also present at the Appeal Court.

Al Mazmi had earlier lodged a civil lawsuit in which he is seeking Dh21,000 in temporary compensation against his clients’ emotional and moral damages.